Shadow Adventure 2: Last Story
by Ri2
Summary: Not just another role reversal! Snively's last weapon is revealed. Is it too strong to defeat? Will the planet be destroyed? Find out in the epic conclusion to Shadow Adventure 2!
1. A past revealed

HI! After all this waiting, it's finally here! The Last segment of Shadow Adventure 2. This is what you've all been waiting for, and I hope you aren't disappointed. Enjoy! Disclaimer: I've said it before and I'll say it again. The only character I own aside from the Chao is Scales.  
  
Day Y (Get it?), 12:01 AM  
  
The beam from the Eclipse Cannon streaked towards America, striking part of it somewhere in Arizona, and fading away. There was no huge explosion, just a little cloud of dust that could be seen from orbit. Shadow blinked, understandably confused. What was that? Scales however, seemed to have an extreme change of mood. "YES! YESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYESYES!" She screamed. She appeared to be incredibly happy. She dropped the fake Emerald, grabbed Shadow, and started swinging him around. Finally, she calmed down a little and put a slightly dizzy Shadow down. "Sorry Shadow, but I couldn't help it! I've been waiting for this a long time, and it's finally happened! Now I can finally rest." She said, still sounding a little ecstatic. Shadow stared at her for a moment. "Okay, I demand you tell me what the hell is going on here!" he said. "I am sick of all this crap! Tell me what the hell this is all about, or I'm kicking you off the bridge!" Scales smiled. "No need to be rude Shadow, I'll tell you everything. But I suggest you sit down, it's a bit of a long story." Reluctantly, Shadow sat on the bridge. "Now, it all started seventy years ago. Leading scientist Dr. Maria Robotnik made a deal with the government allowing her to construct the ARK as both a research facility and a possible weapons platform in event of a war. To that effect, the Eclipse Cannon was constructed. All fourteen Chaos and Super Emeralds were brought to the colony for research and power purposes. While she did aid in the creation of many great works, Maria's greatest ambition was a special experiment, codenamed Project Ultimate." "What was this project?" Shadow asked, starting to find a bit of interest. "Dr. Maria was attempting to create the Ultimate Lifeform, thinking it would benefit all life on Earth. Her first attempt at this involved a genetic protoform, a mix of DNA from modern day lizards and fossilized raptors, and all the Chaos and Super Emeralds. I was the result of that first experiment." She stopped to let Shadow absorb that, then continued. "It turned out that I wasn't a complete success. Due to the conflicting radiation given off by both the Supers and Chaos that bathed over my unborn form, my genetic code was erratic and unstable. Maria and the scientists created a series of biomechanical life support systems that integrated with various portions of my body and grew as I aged thanks to the miracle of nanotechnology. However, there was one thing the life support needed to be complete and ensure my genetic stability and eternal life." "What was that?" "A power source. Every energy source Maria used failed, until she tried a Chaos Drive. It worked for a moment, but failed. This gave her a hint that the Chaos energy was what I needed to live. She tried all the Chaos and Super Emeralds in my life support, yet none of them had the required effect. That's when she tried her last resort, the legendary eight Chaos Emerald, the black gem residing in my life support even now. It worked, and I have lived as a cyborg ever since. The doctor decided to try again, this time only using the power of the Chaos Emeralds and a completely different set of DNA. And so a week after my creation, I had a brother, a being somewhat like myself. He had no need for a life support system, and was thought of as the true success of Project Ultimate." She hesitated, then dropped the bombshell. "That being was you, Shadow." Shadow stared at her for a moment, jaw dropped. "WHAAAAAAAAAAT?" "We are both the final results of Project Ultimate. Shadow, you are my brother." Scales said. Shadow got to his feet, holding his head. "My sister.I have a family.then was Maria our mother?" Scales nodded. "I don't believe this." "You have no choice, Shadow. It's the truth. We are siblings." Scales explained. Shadow frowned at Scales. "But then, why is it I can't remember this? How did I end up on Earth?" "I'm getting to that. We grew up together, educated by Maria and the other scientists. We learned faster than any creature at our age level, learning everything to offer from first grade to senior year at college by the time we were ten years old. We were taught how to focus the Chaos powers ingrained in our genes and mastered the art of Chaos Control. We kept going, playing and learning at once under our mother's supervision. We had fun in our spare time, doing family things like zero gravity basketball and asteroid herding. When we both had hit our twentieth birthday, the biological clock ticking inside the both of us went off, preserving us forever in that age. We were then fully mature and eternal to boot. It was time for us to go to Earth and do what Mother had wanted us to do, make the people of the world happy. But then everything was ruined. It was all because of them that our lives were torn apart." Scales said bitterly. "Who did it? Who tore our lives apart?" asked Shadow. A fiery glare came into her eyes. "GUN did it. They heard about us, about Project Ultimate, and saw they could use us for their purposes." "What do you mean? I thought GUN was a peacekeeping organization." Said Shadow, slightly confused. Scales shook her head. "GUN may once have been established for keeping the peace, but in the last century or so they have become corrupt, thinking it would be easier to make others uphold the law if they made the law. And to that end, they began training and recruiting more and more troops into their ranks, building an army. An army to overthrow the world governments. When they heard of the power possessed by the two of us, they invaded the colony, killing the scientists on board in their pursuit of us. We tried to stall the soldiers while Mom got some escape pods ready, but you got shot in the head. You immediately went into a coma, and I ripped them to shreds out of anger." "So that's why there was a bullet in my head." Muttered Shadow. "I took you to Mom, who ejected you from the colony along with your Chaos Emerald. She prepared my pod for launch, but just after I got in, a soldier burst into the room and shot her. With her last breath, she made me promise to take car eof you, and to make the citizens of the world happy, as I was supposed to do. With her last second of life, she launched me from the colony." Scales closed her eyes, fighting back tears. "When my pod crashed, I was all ready to find your pod, get you to a hospital, and teach GUN a lesson for what they had done. The escape pods double as cryogenic containers in the event of a medical emergency, so your health was kept stabile until I could find you. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to look." "Why?" "GUN calculated my escape trajectory and were waiting at the other end. I tried to fight them of. I killed most of the troops they had sent to capture me, but a single tranquilizer dart was all it took to do me in." She paused. "What happened next wasn't very pretty." "What did they do?" "When I woke up, I found that my mind was sealed away from my Emerald's power, thanks to a few blocks put in the cables going into my brain. I was unable to use Chaos Control, or any of my attacks for that matter. They injected nanites into my bloodstream to prevent me from moving at all and threw me in a big tube with lots of cables and stuff attached. It was very painful. They tried to extract and duplicate my DNA sequence, but it was too confusing and erratic for their computers. All the test subjects they used my code on died quickly and horrendously. Since they couldn't clone me, and they couldn't figure out where your pod was, the only thing left to do was try to brainwash or force me into helping them." A haunted look came to her eyes. "I learned the true meaning of pain in those next five years. When drugs and destructive brain scans failed to work, they tortured me to try to make me like them." She kept her eyes tightly shut then. "It was horrible. They used every torture imaginable on me, including medieval and outdated methods like a rack and slowly being crushed by a large weight. They even made up some new ones, like attaching devices to my limbs that shocked me with a thousand volts of electricity every time I even tried to breathe. After a time, it was evident they were just hurting me for fun, not really caring whether I helped them or not. I was never even fed, Shadow! They enjoyed causing me pain!" Her mouth curved into a snarl. "When they were finally bored of me, they injected the paralyzing nanites into my bloodstream once more and then put blocks in every part of my circuitry except for the most vital functions like breathing and keeping my heart going. Completely neutralizing my powers by doing this and preventing my own protection bugs from regenerating and clearing out the blocks in my systems, they then removed the nanites from my bloodstream. They made sure I was unable to even blink on my own, they locked me in a small capsule and left me for dead in the corner of a storeroom." Scales' fists clenched tightly. A little blood started to seep out from between her claws. " I was imprisoned in that tiny pod for forty- five years, Shadow. Forty-five long years, unable to move or speak, able to do no more than think. And I was forced to brood over what had happened, over and over again. Over the course of a seemingly unmeasurable time, I was forced to relive that single moment, Mom's death, every minute I was trapped in the capsule. I was going mad with rage and sadness, hating everything that had to do with GUN. I didn't care who let me out or even when, but my anger-driven mind eventually came out with a plan of what to do when I got out. A plan for revenge." Shadow wasn't sure what to say. He was astonished at how inhumane GUN seemed right now. Eventually, he said, "What happened after a while?" Scales opened her eyes, tearing up. She slowly let go of her claws. "After all the time in the capsule, in the darkness, I felt Chaos energy radiating into me from an outside force, energizing my life support and reactivating my system bugs, clearing out all the bugs in my circuitry and giving me full control of my body again. I eagerly used my long deprived powers to blast out of the capsule, where I was confronted by the one who had freed me, Dr. Snively. I saw I could use him to fulfill the vengeance for Mother and all the others who had been hurt by GUN. Using his greed and love for destruction, I was able to convince him to find the Super Emeralds required to power up the Eclipse Cannon, the only thing that could be used to complete my plan. With a little help, we got six Super Emeralds and readied the Cannon." "How did the moon figure in your plans of revenge?" Shadow asked. "I don't think GUN has anything on the moon." "No, but it had to be done to fulfill Snively's need for destruction. Don't worry, the beam fired vaporized half the moon, there's no debris that could threaten the planet like in that old Time Machine movie." She thought for a minute. "Where was I? Oh yes. Anyway, when you and your friends started to Snively's base, I started worrying that you might ruin everything through your meddling. When you actually got up here, I began to fear you would actually succeed. I needn't have worried, though. Everything worked out in the end. When Snively launched you into space, I sent you your Chaos Emerald to save your life." "Wait, that was you?" Shadow asked surprised. "Where did you get my Chaos Emerald?" "GUN was keeping it on Prison Island along with three Supers. We were there to collect the Supers, the Chaos Emerald was a bonus. I thought you would be happy to get it back, and it seems you used it as I had hoped." Scales continued. "Well, that's all good, but was this your plan all along? To fire the Cannon at some random point in America?" Shadow asked. Scales smiled and shook her head. "Not any random point, Shadow. I set the Cannon to its lowest setting and targeted GUN's central base in Arizona. When the Cannon fired, the base was completely destroyed, killing all of GUN's leaders and effectively neutralizing any threat they could cause in the future, also exacting my vengeance on them. I'm now free of my past, and can finally live my life the way Mother wanted me to." Shadow scratched the back of his head. "You do realize you could get sued by the remaining members of GUN for what you've done. And I'm pretty sure you've broken some laws." Scales chuckled. "Relax, if they try me in court, I can show them what GUN has done in the past. Every torture they have ever inflicted on me has been stored and filed in my memory banks. It would be simple to hook it up to a TV. I can also reveal any of their unorthodox plans and plots. When I was hacking into the CIA a little while ago, I also hacked into GUN and learned everything they had to hide, including why they were trying to capture you." Shadow shook his head. "I'm not even going to ask why you were hacking the CIA computers. Tell me, why did GUN arrest me?" "When Dr. Robotnik found you, GUN realized they could now try and capture the second Ultimate Lifeform they had failed to find all those years ago. The problem was that they needed a reason to arrest you, but your record was completely clean. Your constant recalcitrance from the media keeps any dirt from being put on your head, and thus left them with nothing to try you with. When I was freed by Snively, they had no choice but to make a move, since they were afraid that I might contact you and get you to help me destroy their organization. Does that clear everything up?" asked Scales. Shadow looked at Earth, his mind reeling a bit from the huge amount of information he had just learned. "I think so. I'm finding this a bit hard to comprehend, you know." Scales shrugged. "I'm sure you'll get through it. Now, don't you want to get back to your friends? I'm sure we need to explain things to everyone before we go back to Earth." Shadow hesitated, then nodded. "Yeah, I guess we should go." He smirked. "I don't know what the doc will say to another member of the family." "I'm sure he'll adjust. I can't wait to see Gerald's son. Hey, since we were made by Maria, and Gerald was her son, that would sort of make us the current Robotnik's uncle and aunt, wouldn't it?" Scales asked, jokingly. Shadow thought about that for a moment, then grinned. "Hey yeah, but I'm also sort of Robotnik's adopted son! What does that make you, his daughter AND his aunt?" Scales snickered. "I am reminded of an old song called 'I'm my own grandpa.' Look, we can sort this out later, can't we? Why don't we head on over to observation deck B and see how your friends are doing?" Shadow nodded and pulled out his Emerald. Scales concentrated on her own. At the same time, they yelled "CHAOS CONTROL!" and warped back into the colony.  
  
How was that for the first chapter of Last Story? I hope you liked it! I regret to inform my readers that the Cannon's Core level is kind of going to suck. I don't know enough about it, so I'm going to have to make several sections really short. Actually, most of the level is going to be really short. However, I'll make up for it with a killer plot twist leading to the level, followed by an incredible final boss battle in the chapter after. Enjoy, and please review! 


	2. Cannon's Core

I would like to dedicate this chapter to the disaster of September 11th. To the families of the deceased and survivors of the catastrophe, I wish them luck in their future endeavors and my sorrow for their loss. Disclaimer: I own Scales and some other stuff. Oh, and forget what I said before, this is going to be a pretty long level after all.  
  
Day Y, 12:15 AM  
  
In the observation deck, a great deal of mourning was going on. Amy hadn't budged since killing Snively. The villain's now headless corpse lay against a wall, blood staining it and the floor. Eggchao's body lay inert, the bullet hole in his head ringed in blood. The Chao had stopped their tearful embrace and were now sitting against the wall, looking sad. Robotnik was up and about thanks to Angel's healing, and almost wished he were dead so he could see Shadow again. All in all, it was a very sad scene. That was all about to change. With a flash of light, Shadow and Scales appeared in the center of the room. "Hey guys, I'm back!" he yelled. All present in the room looked up. There was a long silence, expressions of disbelief on everyone's face. Then Amy made the first move. She jumped up, ran across the room and tackled Shadow, nearly knocking him over. She locked him in a tight hug and pulled him into a deep kiss. The Chao made the next move, slowly getting up and running over, glomping Shadow's legs. Robotnik just stood there for a moment, skepticism all over his face, then he finally gave in and rushed over, encircling the hedgehogs in a bear hug. Scales smiled and backed away, not wanting to interrupt this tender scene. After maybe three minutes, the kiss ended, Robotnik let go of Shadow, happy his surrogate son was alive. Amy wasn't quite ready to let go, and neither were the Chao. "But I saw your escape pod explode. How can you be alive?" Amy asked. Shadow slowly pulled himself away from Amy. "I kind of had some help from Scales here." He said, waving a hand at the lizard. "Hi." Said Scales. Robotnik blinked. "Hey, you're the lizard I saw with Snively!" Scales shrugged. "Yeah, so?" "So aren't you in league with him or anything?" Amy asked. Scales shook her head. "Naw, I only used him in an attempt to right something that happened fifty years ago." "Er, all right." Said Robotnik. He took off his glasses for a moment, cleaning them. "Shadow, since I can see the planet is still in one piece, I assume you stopped the cannon?" "Not exactly." Shadow confessed. "Oh? Then why is the planet still intact?" asked the doctor. "Let's just say the world is short one military organization." Scales answered smugly. "Oh, I forgot to formally introduce you. Robotnik, Amy, this is my big sister, Scales the Lizard." Said Shadow abruptly. Amy blinked. "Your sister?" "It's a long story." Said Scales. "Let's just put it this way: we were both created here, on the ARK, by the same person. We can tell life stories later. Why don't we find the other two people on the colony and leave?" The door to the room slid open and Knuckles and Rouge came in. "Hey guys, Shadow's still-" he stopped, seeing Shadow was already there. "Damn it Shadow! You always get wherever I'm heading before me!" Shadow shrugged. "Sorry Knuckles. Is that the bat you were complaining about earlier?" "We've made up." Rouge said quickly. "You can call me Rouge. A pleasure to meet you all." "Well, I can see we'll be carrying a few extra people back to Earth with us. I hope there's room in the shuttle." Said Robotnik. "Well, it shouldn't be as long a trip this time, considering how much closer to the planet we are now." Said Amy. "What are you talking about?" asked Scales. "The view of the planet is bigger. Doesn't that mean we're getting closer to Earth?" asked Amy. Everyone looked down and saw that the Earth had gotten bigger. How did they get closer? "Something's wrong here. Is there a way we can see why we're moving closer to the world?" asked Shadow. "We could head to the control room, that should explain it." Said Rouge. "Right! To the control room!" said Knuckles. Shadow looked down at his ankles. "How about we pry these two Chao off me before we go anywhere?" he asked.  
  
After loading up the repaired Passion, the group headed for the control room, where they were surprised to find the Super Emeralds had disappeared! "Where did the Emeralds go? Rouge, you didn't take them did you?" Scales asked of the bat. "No! I was worried you would see me, you threatened to do something horrible if I took them out before the cannon fired." Said Rouge. "She was with me the whole time before and after midnight, she couldn't have stolen the Super Emeralds." Said Knuckles. "Maybe I can see if there's anything wrong with the computer." Said Robotnik. He switched on the console, then paused. "Er, what's the password?" "Gerald." Said Scales. "My father's name? Well, I suppose it is fitting, considering my grandmother built this place." He typed in the password and opened up the colony control. Everyone was in for a nasty surprise when a popup window featuring Snively's grotesque visage suddenly filled the screen. They panicked for a moment, then realized it was just a recording. Snively started speaking on the tape. "This message is currently being broadcast all around the world. If you are seeing this message, then I am dead. I programmed this message and a command for the space colony ARK in the unlikely attempt that I died and failed to conquer the planet. This message is playing due to a signal released from my automated body parts before my termination." He cleared his throat. "This is a death sentence for the people of Earth. I, Dr. Snively, in failing to conquer the world, will now destroy it. If I'm not getting the Earth, nobody will." He paused to let this sink in, then continued. "The Super Emeralds have been placed in the core of the ARK, where they are being used to overload the engines, sending the space colony hurtling towards Earth. Approximately ninety minutes after my death, the ARK will collide with Earth, causing a fatal chain reaction in the colony's Chaos reactor that will completely annihilate the planet and leave it a barren, shattered piece of rock." He sneered. "This is payback for all my failures and injuries, all my defeats at the hands of Shadow the Hedgehog and his companions. All you pathetic wretches will feel my hatred and my revenge. I go to my grave now, pleased in the knowledge that I'll take you all with me! Ahahahahahaha!" The screen blurred, then the recording started over again. Robotnik minimized the window and turned to face the others, who were pale with shock. "Scales, get over here! Let's see if we can stop the program Snively is using to send the colony towards Earth!" Scales ran over and interfaced with the supercomputer. A minute later she retracted her cables, disgusted. "I don't believe it, he's blocked me out! I can't stop the program. We're going to crash in about an hour!" "Isn't there any way we can stop this thing?" asked Amy. "Not unless we can stop the power of the Super Emeralds." Said Robotnik, shaking his head sadly. Shadow started, getting an idea. "Doctor, I still have the fake Super Emerald! Can't we use that to disrupt the other six?" Robotnik blinked. "Brilliant idea, Shadow! But you'll have to get to the core to place the fake with the others." "No worries, Scales has access to the entire security net. She can just see where the core is and warp to it, right?" asked Rouge. Scales grimaced. "That would be the case if the energy from the Super Emeralds didn't interfere with the energy of mine or Shadow's Chaos Emeralds, preventing us from simply warping to the core and easily stopping the engines. Sorry." She muttered. "Can't we just walk there instead?" asked Knuckles. Robotnik called up a map of the colony and examined it for a moment. "There are a couple of routes you can use to reach the core. It's a bit dangerous. You'll all have to work together to get through and stop the engines." "Amy, can I please have the real Super Emerald?" asked Scales. "How come?" Amy asked. "I'm not going to the core with you guys right away, I need to check something back at the pyramid base. I get the feeling Snively has at least one surprise waiting in the core, and I want the Super Emerald away from the other six before Shadow uses the fake to stop the engines." Scales explained. "Well, okay." Amy pulled the yellow Emerald from the Passion and handed it over. Scales put the Emerald away. "Thanks. I'll meet up with Shadow after I find what I need to know, okay? Good luck, guys." Scales left the room, using Chaos Control once away from the others. "Now, get going, the rest of you! There's not much time. I'll stay here with Devil and try to help you in any way I can." Said Robotnik. The others nodded and headed out, following their own maps to the nearest entrance to the core.  
  
Stage 14: Cannon's Core. Mission: Get to the core of the colony.  
  
Amy and Angel were in the Passion, at the start of the path to the core. Robotnik spoke to them over the communicator. "Amy, Angel, your job is to get to a security door and blast it open so Rouge can get in." "Got it doc! Let's move, Angel!" Amy walked down a short hallway and came to a room with a door at the other end. In the middle of the room were a couple of swinging maces. Right in front of Amy was a metal disc placed on the floor. Floating above the disc was a large round clock with two white rings around it. Amy shot the clock. It started rotating, ticking. The maces stopped moving. Amy walked through the deadly metal balls as the ticking got faster, making it through the door at the end of the room before the maces started again. She walked down a corridor that curved to the left, killing a Hornet, and came out into a chasm. She dropped from the doorway and onto a platform. Across a short gap was the beginning of a catwalk. Amy hovered across the gap and walked around the winding catwalk, killing the various Hornets and Hawks that shot at her, finding a door and a time switch. Several lasers moved in front of the door. Amy shot the time switch, freezing the lasers. She jumped over them and went through the door. She followed the next corridor as it curved to the right and paused. The hallway continued forward a bit, ending in a door. In front of the door were a pair of falling weights, one before the other. There was a time switch in front of them, but Amy knew she had to hit the switch at exactly the right time, since the weights never fell at the exact same time. When both weights were halfway up or down, Amy shot the switch and walked under the weights, going through the door before the timer ended and they fell. She was in a room with a falling weight blocking the exit door. The time switch was on the right hand wall. Amy shot the switch and ran under the weight, going through the door. She was on a ledge overlooking a shaft. She saw a pulley a little bit off the ledge. She hovered to the ledge and grabbed it. She was lowered to the bottom of the shaft. She jumped off and hopped up some crates to reach a corridor. She went through it and followed it as it curved to the right, blasting a Hornet. She dropped from the doorway at the end of the hall and landed in a large square room with a floor covered in toxic waste. There were several square holes on the walls and floors where big blocks floated out of, following a straight line and going into another hole at the top of their intended path. Amy was on a ledge with nothing on it. She jumped and hovered to a platform just over the waste below her. She saw a single floating block, like the others but immobile, near the far end of the room. Amy saw a time switch and thought it would freeze the blocks. However, she knew she needed the blocks to be in exactly the right position for her to cross the room on. She waited until the blocks were all in a position she could jump across and saw the time switch in the toxic waste. She jumped and hovered quickly from block to block, getting to the immobile one just as the timer went off and motion resumed. Amy hovered from the immobile block to a door, passing through it. She was now in a hallway curving to the left. There were several block portals along the walls and on the ceiling and floor, blocks moving from them. Amy carefully timed the moving blocks and jumped across the holes, making her way down the hall and finally coming into a shaft with a platform in the middle. She hovered to the platform and it lowered down the shaft. Several floating Artificial Chaos hovered around the shaft, firing lasers. Angel locked onto the robots and fired laser blasts, destroying them. The platform stopped in front of a catwalk leading to a door. Amy went through the door and was in another large room with toxic waste and block portals. Amy saw a ledge held up by some pillars near the left side of the room and thought she should try to get there. She waited until some blocks were in the arrangement of a sort of staircase and shot the nearby time switch, freezing all movement in the room. Amy jumped across the blocks and got to the ledge as the timer went off and movement resumed. Amy saw another, higher ledge on the wall at the end of the room. There was something on it, she couldn't quite see what. Amy waited for the blocks to be lined up with the ledge and shot a time switch attached to the far wall, freezing everything. As the timer ticked down, Amy hovered across the blocks, landing on the ledge as time ran out. She saw there was a large door on the wall, but it wouldn't open normally. It had four hinges in the corners of the door. Angel locked onto the four corners and fired, blasting the door down. Robotnik came on the radio. "Amy, good job! You're done now. Report back to the control room, Rouge is heading your way." Amy turned in her seat. "Well, I'm kind of tired. Shall we take a rest?" Angel nodded. "Okay, let's just get back to the control room and hope the others can pull the rest of this off."  
  
Rouge had gone through the security door Amy blasted open. A second door had risen behind it, but it could open just by approaching it. She was now in a large cylindrical room. In the middle of the room was a large circular platform with four tall pillars of varying heights, each with metal blocks placed around them at different places. In the center of the room was a large red button under a glass dome. High on the wall of the room was a passageway sealed by bars. Yellowish water rushed from the passage and down to the floor, forming a shallow moat around the middle platform. There were two other doors in the room, one behind the waterfall, one at the other end of the room. "Rouge, your job is to drain the core of the yellowish water. This will enable Knuckles to do his part. All you have to do is hit the big button in the middle, but to do that you have to find the switch that opens the glass case." "I got it, doctor. I'll get the job done." Rouge saw a time switch on top of the tallest pillar. She started climbing up it, but was balked by a metal block. She glided off of the pillar and onto another, climbing up it a little until getting stopped by another block. She glided to another pillar and did the same thing. It took a minute or two, but using this method Rouge eventually got to the top of the tallest pillar, hitting the time switch. Both doors opened. Rouge jumped off the pillar and glided down to the waterfall, dropping down and running through the door behind it before it could close. She was in a large room full of toxic waste and block portals. There was a hallway on the right wall, but blocks kept moving over it. A time switch sat beneath the hallway. Rouge carefully dropped from the entrance, turned, and glided a second, grabbing onto the wall. She climbed along the right wall, stopping next to the time switch. She hit it when a block moved away from the hallway, freezing everything. She climbed up and entered the hallway. Ahead of her was a path littered with Shield Hunters and moving blocks from block portals. Sighing, Rouge started along her way. She ran and dodged around the blocks, waited for Hunters to move their shields to fire and allowing her to kick them to pieces, and finally made it to a door. She went through the door and found a time switch and a normal switch. She hit both switches and ran back the way she had come, working her way past all the blocks and the toxic waste room, running out through the door leading back to the main room just before the timer ran out and it closed. Rouge wiped away some sweat and ran to the middle of the room, where the big red button was now exposed. Rouge hit it. Water started to flood from the waterfall passage. Rouge quickly ran to the security door and got through it as the water level started to rise. Robotnik contacted her. "Good job Rouge! Come back and rest, Knuckles is on his way over." "Roger that, I'm coming." Rouge switched off her communicator and smiled. "I wonder if I'll run into Knux on the way back. Maybe he could use a little kiss for motivation."  
  
Knuckles was now in the same room Rouge had been in, except it was now completely filled with yellowish water. He had indeed run into Rouge on his way here, and had greatly enjoyed her minute-long motivational kiss. Using the Master Emerald to breathe underwater, Knuckles listened to his instructions from Robotnik. "There is a red button somewhere behind where the water is flowing from. The button will open a door for Shadow outside of your current area, allowing him to get directly to the core and stop the colony's crash course. Can you do it, Knuckles?" "Don't worry doc, I've got it covered. Tell Rouge I said hi when she gets back to the control room, okay?" Knuckles shut off his communicator and started his search for the red button. He swam to the highest pillar in the room and went to the top, hitting the time switch at the top. Both doors in the room opened. Knuckles swam down and went through the door Rouge hadn't used earlier. He got through the door just before it closed. He swam up a shaft and surfaced in a pool of water at the beginning of a hallway. As he got out of the water, he saw a time switch and a grid of laser bars blocking the far end of the room. Knuckles hit the switch, turning off the lasers. He ran down the hallway and got past the deactivated laser emitters just before they switched back on. He was now trapped, standing on four iron crates set in the floor. There was a hole in the ceiling, but the walls were too slippery to climb up. Curious, he smashed the crates he was standing on and landed on a spring. He bounced off it and through the hole in the ceiling, where he found a hallway that ran back over the one that he had just been in. he saw a normal switch and a time switch. He hit both and ran to the end of the hall, smashing through the iron crates in the floor. He dropped through a hole and landed in the water-filled shaft he had used before. He quickly dove in and swam to the bottom and through the door before it could close. He was back in the main room. He looked around and saw that the grate over the former water passage was raised. He swam up and through the passage, diving into a hole in front of another grate. He was now in a large shaft with several rotating lasers on the walls and a pit of toxic waste at the bottom. Sitting in the toxic waste was a time switch. Knuckles swam down past the lasers and hit the switch, careful not to hit the toxic waste. A door opened on the wall next to him. Knuckles swam through the door before it closed and was in another tunnel. Ahead of him was a time switch, and a grate was at the other end. Knuckles swam forward and hit the time switch, raising the grate and also opening the door behind him. Knuckles quickly swam through the grate before it closed, and was in a room with another time switch and a large red button. He pressed the button. Nothing seemed to happen, but that's because it affected something somewhere else. He hit the time switch and quickly swam through the grate and door, then began heading up the tunnel. Robotnik called him up. "Excellent work, Knuckles! Now head on back, Rouge said she would like to have a word with you in private. Can't imagine what it is though, Heheheh." "Hey, what I do with her in private is none of your business!" Knuckles said angrily. "Sorry, sorry. But it seems I was right, the only way a girl could attract was by stealing the Master Emerald, and it worked!" Robotnik joked. "You're on thin ice, doctor." Mumbled Knuckles as he swam towards the exit door.  
  
Shadow started through the door that had opened when Knuckles had hit the switch. "Is this it, doctor?" he asked over the comm. "Yes, this is the last leg of the path to the core. It's all up to you now, Shadow." Robotnik said. Shadow shrugged. "I'm used to it." He ran down the hallway ahead of him. A Shield Hunter immediately accosted him. He killed the robot and came to the end of the hall. A large tunnel waited ahead of him. He jumped onto a rail before him and started grinding down its length, avoiding everything from enemy fire, spiked balls, and spinning lasers as he grinded down the extremely long rail. After spending maybe five minutes on the dangerous rail, he reached its end. He dropped from the end and landed in a room with little ledges on the walls and a door with a time switch in front of it. Shadow hit the time switch. The door raised then immediately began to lower, much like the doors in Pyramid Cave. Shadow somersaulted under the door before it could close and found himself at the top of a long ramp. He started running down the ramp, hitting dash panels along the way and going through five loops in a row before launching from a jump plate at the end of the path. He started to shoot past a pulley. He grabbed it and was lowered down a shaft. When the pulley stopped, he dropped to a ledge in front of a door. Unfortunately, the door wouldn't open. He looked behind him and saw a floating blob of Artificial Chaos. He used a Homing Attack to destroy it, then immediately used a backward Homing Attack to get back on the ledge. He tried the door again, and this time it opened. He went through and was now in a large curving corridor with several strange ornate floating blocks and block portals with big floating blocks. Shadow started working his way around the dangerous blocks and mowed through several Shield Hunters in his path. After a few minutes of block dodging and Hunter smashing, Shadow found his way blocked by a pair of laser grids. Shadow saw a time switch atop an ornate floating block. He used his bounce attack to reach the block, where he hit the switch, temporarily deactivating the lasers. He quickly jumped down and ran past the emitters just before they switched back on. Once past the lasers, Shadow was hit by homing missiles from a Hornet. Barely keeping from falling back into the laser grid, Shadow shook off the missiles and killed the Hornet with a Homing Attack. He kept going, watching out for more blocks and Hunters, before reaching a room with a stream of shallow rushing water. Shadow stepped into the stream and was almost swept away. He tried to keep his balance, but was getting dangerously close to falling over and going down the large waterfall the stream lead to. The Beetle shooting at him didn't help matters, either. Shadow started using his bounce attack, moving across the stream and to the other side. Once safe on the bank, he killed the stupid Beetle with a Homing Attack and hit a time switch, temporarily opening a door. He somersaulted through the door before it could close and was in a shaft with a platform in the middle and a door with an Artificial Chaos in front of it at the other end. He Homing Attacked to the platform, and was shocked when it started falling. Shadow quickly used a Homing Attack to hit the floating Artificial Chaos and another one to get through the door behind it. He was in a corridor blocked by a wall of cages and iron crates. He smashed the iron crates with a powerful somersault, going through the space that they had occupied. He ran down the corridor, killed a half dozen Shield Hunters, and found a series of platforms at the end. He started jumping up the platforms, killing the Artificial Chaos occupying each one, and eventually reached a pulley. He grabbed the pulley and was elevated to a ledge with a door. Shadow jumped to the ledge and passed through the door. This next room had another rushing stream, this one going into a tunnel. Seeing no other way out, Shadow jumped in the stream and was knocked flat on his short tail as the water swept down the tunnel. As the water went through the tunnel, it suddenly sloped down, speeding up and rushing through many twists and turns. Shadow started laughing, realizing this was no more than a big water slide! Enjoying the ride, Shadow stopped laughing when the water exited the tunnel. He was heading right for a waterfall! Shadow couldn't fight the current, it looked like he would go over the falls! He stopped panicking when he remembered he could just Chaos Control back up if he fell, but he wouldn't be any closer to getting to the core. He looked at the edge and suddenly saw a chain of Beetles leading up to a high ledge across from the waterfall. As he was about to go over the edge, Shadow used a Homing Attack to hit the Beetle, then used more to go along the chain. He finally reached the ledge, and was almost knocked off by a shot from a Shield Hunter. Shadow killed the Hunter and found a time switch in front of a door. He hit the switch and somersaulted under the door before it could slam shut. He was at the top of a very long hill. As he started running down, he heard a strange noise. He glanced behind him and saw a giant ball of plasma had dropped from the ceiling and was rolling right towards him! Cursing, he poured on the speed, hoping he could outrun the huge ball of fire. It got closer and closer, until Shadow could actually feel his quills singing from the intense heat. Despite his immense speed, he just was not making enough headway! Where were the freaking dash panels on the ramp?! THERE WERE ALWAYS SUPPOSED TO BE DASH PANELS! Shadow sort of relaxed when he saw the ramp curve up a bit up ahead, ending in a jump plate. He hit the jump plate and was launched over a great chasm. The ball of plasma wasn't so lucky, and rolled off the end of the ramp, soared through the air, and fell into the chasm. Shadow started to shoot past a horizontal pole. He instinctively grabbed the pole and started swinging around and around, letting go and shooting for a spring on a floating platform. He bounced off the spring, ricocheted off a dozen more springs lining the vast hallway, and finally landed on a catwalk leading to a large door with a cool glowing symbol on it. The Goal Ring spun in place in front of the Goal Ring. Shadow jumped through the Ring, ending the level.  
  
(STAGE CLEAR. RANK A.)  
  
What happens next? Well, unfortunately I can't tell you just yet. Sorry to leave you with yet another cliffhanger, but you will be repaid for it in the next and final chapter of Shadow Adventure 2. The grand finale will soon be ready for reading by the public. 


	3. Final Battle

At long last, here it is! The final chapter in Shadow Adventure 2! I hope you enjoy this last boss battle, and will stay in touch for my future works. Here we go! Oh, and I thought I should answer a few questions seeing as this is the last chapter. First of all, Mr. Valentine, I try to format perfectly. I even indent every paragraph. But the stupid uploading process ruins all the neat bold and indents I make, mushing the story together and ruining my neat work. Now for Maverick. Chaos absorbed the Chaos Emeralds, not the Supers. If by the eighth Emerald you mean the one in Scales' life support system, yes it is the honest to god legendary eighth Chaos Emerald and not a fake or made of chocolate. I didn't use the Master Emerald to negate the power of the Supers because that would be kind of weird, considering I never mentioned it could do that. Besides, I've always wondered why they didn't use the fake Emerald to stop the power flow instead of the Master. That's about all I have to say, so enjoy the end! Disclaimer: Why should I say it again?  
  
Day Y, 1:10 AM  
  
Shadow ran through the door, and entered an incredible chamber. It was a mammoth round chamber, with lots of pipes and cables lining the walls. In the center of the room was a great cylindrical tube with a floating blue crystal in it. Cables hung over the crystal, open ends pointing at it. Blue beams shot from the crystal, going into the nozzles of the cables surrounding it. A larger beam of light went through the bottom of the tube and below the floor, going down the shaft of the Eclipse Cannon. Surrounding the great tube were multiple consoles and control panels. There was a moat of shallow yellow water surrounding a metal ring allowing a person to walk around the tube and consoles. A couple of walkways went across the water and onto the console area. One of the consoles was prominent, with seven sockets, six of which were filled by the Super Emeralds. Shadow took out the fake Emerald, knowing it was show time. As he took a step forward, a recording flickered to life, Snively's voice playing. As it did so, a huge door at the other end of the room started to slowly rise. "You wretches will feel my hatred and my revenge." The door got higher, and Shadow could start to see some details of the thing hidden in the large storage closet the door had concealed. "My hatred and my revenge." The door was fully open. The thing that had occupied the closet behind stepped out, the door closing behind it. "All you pathetic wretches will feel my hatred and my revenge!" Shadow gaped at the thing across the room, on the other side of the Chaos Reactor. It was a hundred-foot tall robot. It had a pair of large black legs and a blue torso that overshadowed the legs. Two arms came from the machine's shoulders, mostly blue until the wrists. The head was like that of a human, completely bald and with a long needle nose. It had a mouth fixed in a permanent sneer, and its eyes were black with a glowing red deep within. The very top of the bald metal dome of the robot's head was covered in glass, covering several complex circuitry and machines. Shadow had to keep himself from throwing up. The machine was a giant robotic duplicate of Snively! "What is that thing?" "I can tell you that." Said a voice behind and to his right. Shadow spun around and saw Scales coming from a doorway near the one he had used. "Scales? Do you know what that thing is? And more importantly, where does that door go?" Scales peered behind her. "Oh, that's the completely unguarded maintenance entrance to the core that was left off all maps of the colony for security reasons." Shadow's eye twitched. "Why didn't you tell us there was an easy entrance to the core?" "I didn't remember it was here until after I found the plans for that monstrosity in Snively's files." Scales said sheepishly. "Anyway, that thing is called the Snivel Crusher. It's Snively's final weapon and last line of defense for the core. We can't get anywhere near the Super Emeralds until it's out of commission, it's keeping up a force field protecting the consoles." "All right then, let's get it!" said Shadow. Scales grabbed his shoulder. "Not so fast, I read up all the information on this thing, I'm the only one who knows its weaknesses and how to stop it." "Then what am I supposed to do?" Shadow asked, miffed. "Sit down and watch like a good little brother." Scales said, smiling to indicate she was joking. "Seriously, this thing could be dangerous if tackled incorrectly, I don't want you getting hurt. And Amy would turn me into a handbag if I let anything happen to you." Shadow sighed and stepped away from the circular area that made up most of the room. "Fine. I'll just wait for you to kill that abomination so I can stop the Super Emeralds. Okay?" Scales nodded. "Here I go!" She ran towards the Snivel Crusher. The robot noticed her and started to chase after her as she ran away.  
  
SNIVEL CRUSHER  
  
Scales ran around the room, the Crusher slowly gaining on her due to the stride of its large legs. She didn't go too fast, knowing that if she got too far ahead the robot would turn around and chase her in the other direction. As the robot got closer and closer, its tremendous footfalls growing louder, Scales hoped what she had read in the blueprints for the machine still applied. After a minute or so more of running, the Crusher fumbled and fell to one knee, trying to regain some strength, its servos taxed by the run. As the robot was now bent over, the glass shield on its head was exposed. Scales ran back towards the machine, hoping she had enough time, and launched into a Homing Kick, smashing into the dome and cracking it a little. The Crusher's gears groaned and it shot to its feet, restarting the pursuit. Scales kept running from the robot, knowing that eventually it would need to stop again. After another couple of minutes of running, the Snivel Crusher needed to stop for a breather. As Scales started to turn around, the robot raised one of its hands and started throwing huge energy balls at her. Scales jumped over the lower balls and rolled under the higher ones, getting closer to the robot. After carefully working through the barrage of energy blasts, she was in range to attack the Crusher's weak spot. She launched into a Homing Kick, striking the glass cover and cracking it some more. The robot lurched to its feet and started chasing her again. It was a little faster now, its programming to destroy intruders getting stronger in the machine's mind. She still outdistanced it, eventually getting several yards ahead of the robot, but still trying not to go too fast. She passed Shadow several times and waved to him quickly each instance before continuing. Finally, the Crusher needed a break and fell to its knees. Scales ran back towards the robot. The Crusher raised both arms and launched many more energy balls at Scales, desperately trying to hit her. Despite the proficiency of the twin flow of blasts, Scales managed to get through and stop in front of the head. She hit the glass shield with a Homing Kick, causing some more cracks. The Crusher jumped up and almost flattened Scales with a stomp. She quickly began running again, noticing the Snivel Crusher's slightly increased speed again. She kept running, pouring on the speed to ensure the hideous machine didn't catch up to her. After a few more minutes of running, the Snivel Crusher had to stop again. Scales ran back towards the bent over robot, dodging the barrage of energy balls as before. However, when she was halfway to the ugly machine, it stopped firing energy balls and launched a large number of pink spherical mines that floated through the air, the closest ones drifting to Scales. She quickly ran towards the closest mine and used a Homing Kick on it, the force of the attack causing it to detonate without harming her and allowing Scales to kick to another mine. She used multiple Homing Kicks to penetrate the perimeter of mines and land a direct kick to the glass case on the Crusher's head, causing yet more cracks in its surface. She dropped to the ground and started running as the robot started chasing after her again. She went at the same speed as before, keeping the Crusher behind her by several yards, which then started to extend into meters. Eventually, the Crusher dropped again and started firing more energy balls. Scales dodged the projectiles as before, jumping and rolling under the balls. When she was halfway to the robot, it spawned more mines. She ran to the closest one and began a chain of Homing Kicks, going from mine to mine before finally landing a blow on the robot's cranium, making the glass cover a web of cracks. She dropped to the ground and started running away from the enraged machine. She ran almost as fast as she could, trying to get as far away as she could from the faster robot. She cut it close, almost getting far enough away for the Crusher to turn and chase in the opposite direction, but she outlasted the robot. As it stopped, she started heading back, expecting it to get on its knees. Instead, it not only stayed upright, but it launched more mines and then did something astounding. It switched off the artificial gravity in the core, using magnets to stay on the ground and sending Scales and Shadow into the air. As Shadow clung to the frame of the door he had used to get in, Scales started floating towards the robot, using short boosts from her jet anklets to maneuver forward and around the mines. Finally, she was positioned right over the glass dome. She launched into a Homing Kick, driving herself straight at the machine's head. Her feet shattered through the glass and tore into the delicate computer brain under it, stopping the Snivel Crusher's power. The mines detonated, gravity resumed, and the force field protecting the core went off as the Crusher fell over, denting the floor. Scales crawled out of the robot's head, a little dizzy, and gave a thumbs-up to Shadow. "Nothing can stop us, eh Shadow?" Shadow walked over to the control panel. "We can celebrate later, right now we have to stop the engines before it's too late!" He stuck the yellow fake into the socket. For a moment it glowed and hummed in reaction to the real Supers. Then electricity shot out all over the console. The lights on it flickered and blew out. The light of the Chaos Reactor dimmed for a second, then went back to normal. "We did it! We've saved the world!" Shadow said. Suddenly, the Snivel Crusher lurched and got to its feet. Wobbling a little, it vanished in a flash of light. "What was that? A teleport? I don't remember seeing a teleporter in the robot's blueprints!" Scales exclaimed. "Where did it go to?" asked Shadow, carefully taking the Super Emeralds from their sockets. Just then, the P.A. system came on. Robotnik spoke through it, a glitch causing him to sound like two people were saying the same thing, just a few seconds after one another, creating an echo effect. "Shadow, Scales, great work stopping the engines! But something's wrong, we're still moving towards the planet at the same speed as before. Outside cameras show a giant robotic copy of Snively has appeared over the Eclipse Cannon and is actually towing the ARK towards Earth! I have no idea how to stop it. If either of you have a plan of some kind, I suggest you implement it now. There's only nine minutes left until we enter the Earth's atmosphere, and from there there's no turning back." The message finished and the P.A. went off. Scales and Shadow looked at each other. "Uh, Shadow, do you have an idea?" she asked. Shadow pondered a moment, a lightbulb suddenly going off in his head. "That's it! Scales, do you still have the seventh Super Emerald?" "Yeah, why?" she asked, pulling it out. Shadow dropped the real Super Emeralds on the ground and threw the fake to the other side of the room. "We are unable to use the Super Emeralds in all but one respect. Like the Chaos Emeralds, they have the power to turn an individual who is able to use the Chaos forces into a super being." Realization came into Scales' eyes. "And as more powerful beings, we can go outside and stop the Snivel Crusher, right?" "Right! Put the yellow Emerald on the ground, we have to make a circle around the both of us. I've never had to share the power before, but it seems we have no choice in this instance. Come on!" They quickly arranged the seven Super Emeralds around them. "Now what?" Scales asked. "Concentrate on the power of the Emeralds. Will them to give you their strength." He closed his eyes, doing just that. Scales followed his lead. They both focused their awesome will on the Emeralds, causing them to react. The seven jewels floated into the air and started spinning around the two Ultimate Lifeforms, pausing for a moment and then converging on the duo, vanishing into their bodies. There was a flash of light in the colors of all the Emeralds, red; dark blue; yellow; green; gray; light blue; and purple. When the light faded, Shadow and Scales had transformed. Shadow's black fur had turned white as snow, camouflaging his tuft of hair on his chest. The red stripes on his arms and quills remained, and the two colors made him look strangely angelic. The metal bands on his wrists and ankles remained unchanged, except they were glowing. Scales looked incredible. Her red orange scales had turned to a shimmering gold. The cables all over her body were silvery and sparkling. Her yellow eyes had turned a bright red, like her brother's. Scales looked over herself, astounded. "Awesome!" "I am now Super Shadow, and you are Super Scales. Ready to go out and kick some metal butt, big sis?" Shadow asked with a grin. Scales grinned back. "Always, little bro!" Calling upon the power of their Chaos Emeralds, they warped out of the room with Chaos Control, heading out into space for the final battle.  
  
FINAL DESTROYER  
  
The Snivel Crusher, now the Final Destroyer, looked mostly unchanged. It held its arms out, pointing forward. A very large jetpack had come out of its back and was spouting tremendous bursts of blue flame. Multiple rockets on the robot's shoes did the same. Two large metal bolts stuck out of either side of the robot, three chains of titanium coming out of them and spreading out, each taut and fastened to the point of the closed Eclipse Cannon. Amazingly, the robot, tiny compared to the huge colony, was pulling the whole thing closer and closer to Earth. "Whoa! How is that thing pulling the colony?" asked Shadow as they reappeared outside. "Even though the engines stopped, there was probably more than a little momentum left. If it weren't for the robot, we could just use the thrusters in reverse to pull away, but the momentum is allowing the robot to tow the ARK." Scales answered. "Well then, we'll just have to sever its connection to the colony. Those rockets look like they're going all out to pull this thing, if we could break the robot from the ARK, I'm betting it would shoot away too fast to stop itself and burn up in the atmosphere." Said Shadow. "Then we'll have to aim for those bolts holding the chains, right?" asked Scales. "Right. We'll take turns, hitting each bolt from the right side. I'll go first, you get onto that thing's right side and wait for the first chain to break off." Shadow instructed. "Okay, good luck brother." Scales flew off, heading for the other side of the Destroyer. Shadow started flying towards the robot, using his power to burst forward with increased speed. Detecting his approach, the Destroyer launched a spherical defense perimeter of mines, spreading them out in an attempt to prevent Shadow from getting near. Using several fancy maneuvers, Shadow flew over, under, and around the pink orbs, not wanting to get hit. After several dodges and close calls, Shadow broke through the sphere of mines. Increasing his speed with powered-up bursts from the jets on his shoes, Shadow shot towards the bolt and slammed into it. One of the chain links shattered, the chain falling away. As the Destroyer's inner machinery whined, Shadow flew over the robot and rocketed over to Scales. "Okay, your turn. Hit the bolt and get to the other side. We'll keep alternating with each hit." "Sounds good to me. That ugly Snively lookalike won't stand a chance against us!" She started her attack, flying towards the Final Destroyer. As she started to approach the hideous machine, the P.A. came on at full volume, allowing them to hear it even at their distance from the nearest speaker. "Shadow, Scales, this is Robotnik. We're watching the fight from in here, keep it up! You can beat that thing!" Encouraged, Scales flew faster. The Final Destroyer sprouted a laser emitter from the top of its jetpack. The emitter fired a powerful laser, swiveling and shifting to sweep the beam around, trying to hit Scales. She frantically juked around, trying to avoid the sweeping laser beam. It got harder and harder to do so as she got closer to the robot. She barrel rolled over the laser as it was about to cut through her and burst forward, smashing into the bolt. A chain link shattered, the chain falling away. Scales flew under the robot and headed away to rest up. "Where is this thing getting its power? By all right, even with the momentum it shouldn't be able to do this. Oh well. Shadow, it's your turn!" she yelled to her brother. "I'm on my way!" Shadow started flying towards the Destroyer. The P.A. came on again, Knuckles speaking this time. "This is Knux. I want to wish you guys good luck, and also want to remind you that if we crash and the whole planet blows, I'm kicking your asses on the other side." Shadow snickered and flew faster, knowing time was running out. The Destroyer fired its sweeping pink laser again, trying to hit Shadow. The super hedgehog barrel rolled under the beam as it swung over him, charging downward as it came diagonally at him. He kept juking around to avoid the laser beam, getting closer and closer to the robot. Finally, he cleared the laser and burst forward, smashing into the bolt. A chain link severed, the chain falling away. Shadow flew over the Destroyer and towards Scales. "Hey Scales, you sure you can handle all this? It is your first time going Super, after all." "Hey, I can handle anything you can bro! Watch me!" Scales shot towards the robot. The P.A. came on once again. "This is Rouge speaking. I just want to let you two know we're all rooting for you. Show that monstrosity not to mess with the Ultimate Lifeforms!" Scales sped forward, noticing a second laser emitter coming out of the Destroyer's chest. Both emitters switched on, resulting in two sweeping laser beams, upping the ante. The beams swept around at different angles, often passing over one another. Scales used this to her advantage, flying through the gap between the two beams and barrel rolling around crossed pairs of beams. After a few dangerous seconds of flying, Scales got through the beams and slammed into the bolt. A chain link shattered, the rest of the chain falling away. Scales flew under the robot and called back to Shadow once she was a sufficient distance away. "Okay bro, come on! Show this thing what happens when it stands up against the combined power of Project Ultimate!" "I'll make our mother proud!" Shadow yelled back. He started flying for the Final Destroyer. As Shadow headed for the ugly robot, the P.A. came on. It was Amy! "Shadow, I killed Snively, it's your job to kill this robotic version! Finish it off, and I can guarantee you an advance on our wedding night." She said, a little seductively. Shadow's eyes widened. "Okay, I am definitely kicking this thing's butt now!" he said. He shot for the Destroyer, swerving and barrel rolling around the robot's twin laser beams as they sweeped around, trying to hit him. After a few tense encounters in which some of his quill tips got burnt, Shadow got through the beams and slammed into the bolt, severing the final link on that side. The chain fell away, and the robot seemed to wobble a bit before regaining control. There was only one chain left, and then it would be over. Shadow flew over the Destroyer, heading for Scales. He soon got over to where she was waiting for him. "Sis, are you sure you don't want me to take this turn? You look a little tired." Scales laughed and hit him on the shoulder. "The day I'm too tired to rip my enemies to shreds is the day you can put me six feet under. And considering the fact that we can't die of old age, that isn't gonna happen." "What if you die from injuries? That can still kill you." Said Shadow, a little more serious. "Look, I just learned a little over an hour ago that I had a sister. I don't want to lose her." Scales grinned. "Shadow, you realize the longer you distract me, the closer we get to the point of no return, right?" "Oh, sorry." Shadow said, ashamed. Scales sighed. "Look, I can finish this thing off. Don't worry about me." With that, she started to fly towards the Final Destroyer. "Hey, you can do this! You already beat this thing once, you can do it again!" Shadow yelled after her. "I plan to!" Scales yelled back. As she got closer to the Destroyer, it not only activated its lasers, it also launched a defensive perimeter of mines, making the final approach infinitely more dangerous. Scales started moving faster and wilder than ever before, constantly dodging the laser beams and surrounding mines, getting closer and closer to her target. At last, she punched through the minefield and only had the sweeping beams to contend with. She barrel rolled under the beams as they sweeped towards her, moving forward in a burst of speed. She shot through a closing gap between the two beams and slammed into the bolt one last time. The final link shattered, the chain falling away. Scales quickly flipped back as the Final Destroyer shot forwards uncontrollably, vanishing into the planet's atmosphere. "YES!!!!!" Shadow flew over and they gave each other a high five. "We did it! Nice job, sister!" "Yeah! Hey Shadow, is it just me or is it getting a little warm?" Scales asked suddenly. "Warm? What do you-" Shadow looked down and suddenly saw that they were too late. They were just entering the atmosphere. "We failed! We're too close to Earth!" Scales looked up at the ARK, an idea coming to her. "We still have one chance. If we can use the Chaos Control, we can warp the colony back to its proper orbit!" Shadow looked at the colony, more than a little disbelieving. "That's a big thing to transport." He said. "In our Super forms, we should be able to do it, right? Well, let's go!" Scales said. Shadow sighed. "Well, we don't have much of a choice any way. Let's do this! We'll split up, hit opposite sides of the surface and try to pull this crazy thing off!" With a nod, Scales flew away from him. Shadow flew away as well, going some distance before flying straight at the colony, passing all the towers and buildings before touching a piece of flat hull. Across the colony's surface, Scales did the same thing. Each counting to three, they exerted every last bit of strength remaining in them in a final command. "CHAOS CONTROL!" Slowly, inexorably, the colony started to be encompassed by the green glow. It vanished, reappearing away from the Earth, settling into its old orbit. All over the world, people rejoiced as Snively's message vanished completely, the world no longer in any threat. Our two weary heroes went back inside the colony to rejoin the others.  
  
Day Y, 12:00 PM  
  
Several hours later, everyone had woken up from a good long sleep and were finally ready to leave for Earth, and a victory celebration. But they all wanted to spend a few more minutes on the old space station before it was time to go. Shadow looked out the windows of Observation deck B, Devil sitting on his shoulder. He stared out at the planet below, contemplating. The door slid up as Amy came in, Angel trailing after her. "Hey, what are you doing?" she asked. Shadow turned around, Devil hopping off of his shoulder. "I was thinking about the past." "Did you get your memory back?" she asked as Angel and Devil met each other and started hugging. Shadow nodded. "All of it. It's amazing, really, how much Dr. Maria.Mother.cared about Scales and myself. She really thought we were her greatest masterpiece. But in the end, she died because of us. Was it worth making us, for her to die?" Amy walked up to Shadow. "It's worth it to me." She said. He smiled and kissed her on the cheek. Hand in hand, they walked from the room, the Chao trailing after them.  
  
Rouge and Knuckles were sitting on a girder above the docked shuttle, dangling their feet over the end. "So, what are we going to do now?" Rouge asked him. "Uh, what do you mean?" Knuckles asked, a little confused. "You know, us. Where is our relationship going to go?" Rouge asked him. "Well, um, I guess you might have to move to Angel Island. I mean, I have to guard the Master Emerald, and it's supposed to stay there, so." He shrugged. "I go where it goes. Simple as that." Rouge thought a moment. "Does your island have caves?" "Take your pick. The biggest caverns on the whole island are in Lava Reef. Why?" Knuckles asked. "If I'm moving to your island, I'm going to need a place to store my jewel showcase." Rouge said simply. "Hey, I'm not going to allow smuggled goods on my island!" He said. "Does this count as smuggled goods?" Rouge asked, suddenly kissing him. "Cause if so, then I can't come with you." Knuckles paused. "Well, maybe we could hide them somewhere."  
  
Robotnik looked through the archives in the control center, dowloading all of it into his laptop so it could later be updated to the family database. He sighed. It was going to be hard doing things without Eggchao, but he didn't have much choice. He supposed he would eventually hatch another Chao, but it just wouldn't be the same. Scales looked over his shoulder. "How are you doing?" The scientist shook his head. "I'm still feeling bad about Eggchao, if that's what you mean. Otherwise, I'm fine. This is amazing! All these things listed in the records, things my ancestor never managed to get around to, it's all incredible. I always looked up to my grandmother, ever since I was a little boy, but I never realized just how brilliant she was! She designed this entire colony from scratch and had a major hand in everything going on! I doubt I could ever aspire to be like her." He looked a little sad at that, then brightened. "Although I doubt I will ever be quite as good as she was, the least I can do for my dear departed relative is to complete some of these unfinished projects and give them to the public. I'm sure she'd love it that way." Scales nodded. "You're right. That's exactly what Mom would want. However, she would also want you to improve on the original designs, make the inventions yours, not hers. All she did was set the foundations, it's up to you how you want to construct the rest." Robotnik pondered that for a moment. "You know, I think you're right. She wasn't kidding when she called you and Shadow her greatest creations!" Scales shrugged. "Hey, I'm only following her dreams, my dreams. Are you almost done?" "Just about.there, it's complete." Said Robotnik, pulling the disk he had loaded everything on out of the drive. "Come on, let's round up the others." Soon, they were all on board the shuttle. Robotnik set the thing on autopilot and launched from the colony, leaving the relic behind. Some day, he would come back and turn this place into a factory for miracles once again. But for now, it was time to go home. As they settled in for the flight back to America, Robotnik started playing the other movies he had brought with them, Chao in Space 1 and 2. Halfway through the first movie, when they were reaching an incredibly dramatic scene, Amy tapped Shadow on the shoulder. He turned around and found she was beckoning him. Curious, Shadow followed her down the hall and into a cabin. Robotnik noticed them and figured they were just getting some sleep. He shrugged and continued watching the movie. A few hours later, it was almost the end of the second Chao in Space movie. They would be landing soon, so Robotnik thought he should go wake up the two hedgehogs. Moving quietly so as not to disturb the others, who were enthralled by the heroics performed by the Chao on screen, Robotnik headed down the corridor to the cabin. He opened the door a crack and peeked in. Under his dark glasses, his eyes bulged. Gaping, he closed the door and started walking backwards to the rec room, moving around the others and sitting down in his seat. But in his mind, he was still backing away.  
  
Of course, you know what Shadow and Amy were doing, right? I hope you enjoyed this story, and am sad to say it's over. Don't worry though, a sequel will be coming soon. So just relax and wait for it, the first chapter for the new story should be up sometime this weekend. And I should add that it revolves around our favorite cybernetic lizard, all starting with a certain couple's wedding. 


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